Sunday, March 25, 2012

happy together

The Turtles made their slow and steady climb to the top of the charts and found their greatest success with the shimmering harmonies and obsessive wishful thinking of this unrequited love song. Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan met in their high school choir, where Volman heard about Kaylan's band the Nightriders. Kaylan recalls: "He started coming to our shows and carrying our instruments. The first night we played, it was a fraternity party and Mark carried the instruments down the stairs of the frat house. He fell down the stairs with all the drums and the amps and everything — a preview of things to come. He's kind of been falling down ever since. All he did that night was sing dirty lyrics to 'What I Say' and play tambourine."

They changed their name to the Crossfires during college and then to the Tyrtles, scoring a top ten hit with their cover of Dylan's 'It Ain't Me, Babe'. They floundered on the charts until they heard a worn out demo of a song written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon. According to Gordon: "I had nearly half a song already written, mostly lyric ideas, but couldn't find the right melodic concept. The Magicians were in the middle of a week-long engagement at the Unicorn Club in Boston, and one early morning I was visiting my divorced father in nearby Ayer, Massachusetts after being up all night. I had stopped to have breakfast at the Park Street Diner in the town and was miserable with no sleep, the endless dumb gigs we were playing and having a songwriter's block. About the only melody that was throbbing in my tired, fried brain at that hour was the time-immemorial repeated open string pattern that Allen (Jake) Jacobs, the Magician's lead guitarist, would use as he incessantly tuned and retuned after, before, and frequently during each piece we played. Suddenly, some words began to fit and literally minutes later music and lyrics started to take shape. I excitedly and in fairness asked Jake to complete the song with me as co-writer, but he refused, saying it was all 'too simple' for him to be involved, so my regular partner Gary then helped me with the finishing touches. When Gary Klein at the Koppleman/Rubin office heard the result, he immediately knew the song would be perfect for the new and upbeat image being created for the Turtles, and it was his continued enthusiasm that convinced the group to record it."

Session man Ralph Casale remembers the recording of the demo: "Music business success stories always fascinate me. One session that comes to mind is the 'Happy Together' session. Two unknown writers (Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon) were sent into Regent Sound studio by their publishing company after their song was turned down by a number of groups. They obviously didn't have the right concept for the song or it would have already been recorded by someone. A chord sheet was placed in front of the musicians and we immediately proceeded to put this song together. I came up with what I considered and called a Lovin' Spoonful feel. I created the figure and all the other musicians including Bonner and Gordon immediately understood the direction. The vocal arrangements fell into place very nicely. Regent Sound was an excellent studio so the demo sounded like a finished product. I later told everybody, 'I just heard a hit record.' No one really knows for sure if a song is going to be a hit but if you hear recordings on a daily basis you sometimes can sense a hit record. I thought the writers were going to be the artists. Apparently they had the Turtles in mind. The Turtles added their sound to the arrangement and the rest is history. "

Mark Volman says, "The Turtles had been together four years before we made “It Ain’t Me Babe”, and it would take almost six years as a band to get to 'Happy Together'." The single went to number twelve in the UK and in the US knocked the Beatles 'Penny Lane' off of the top spot, staying there for three weeks.